


From Pom-Poms to Pianos

by orphan_account



Category: Glee
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-27
Updated: 2012-08-27
Packaged: 2017-11-12 23:46:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/497014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Brad's past is quite the story, if only someone had ever asked.</p>
            </blockquote>





	From Pom-Poms to Pianos

 

Brad sighed as he took a seat at a small, rickety, discolored table in the teacher’s lounge, steaming Styrofoam cup of cheap coffee in hand. He glanced around the empty room, the stench of mediocrity and body odor hanging in the muggy air. An old air conditioner clanked and banged futilely in the corner, trying to lessen the rising temperature, and the coffee machine near the door hummed to itself. Brad was alone in the lounge, the glee club’s latest tribute to a second-rate artist still stuck in his head, only forgotten by the sudden ring of the school bell and the sounds of students and teachers alike rushing through the hallways, escaping their most-recent version of hell and moving to the next.

Teacher’s began filing into the room, talking in hushed voices as they crowd around the coffee machine or sit down at small, rickety, discolored table similar to Brad’s. No one paid any attention to Brad, as usual, as they talked about their students or their lessons plans, the latest gossip running through the staff. William Schuester sat down at the table beside of Brad, his doe-eyed, ginger fiancé sitting across from him, picking delicately at the salad in her bowl. If any of the staff were to notice him, Brad thought it would be William, but of course he didn’t, too entranced by his petite soon-to-be wife’s obsessive compulsive habits. But no, the one person that did notice Brad was the post-menopausal demon that rests within the body of one Sue Sylvester. Sue didn’t say a word as she passed Brad, but gave him a look filled with rage, hatred, and what Brad believed was a twinge of regret. It was over in a second, her attention turned over to William and Emma as she tossed out insults and hair jokes towards the couple. Brad dropped his eyes to the stained table top, tracing one of the coffee circles with the tip of his finger as he tuned out Sue’s voice and instead tried to focus on another conversation in the room, or maybe the glee club’s setlist. Anything that wasn’t Sue-related.

Brad knew it was stupid; after all, it had been years since he and Sue had anything with each other, but he still got an ache in his heart every time he saw those piercing blue eyes. No one had ever asked about Brad’s past, no one had ever really cared what he had gone through so long as he was still there to play his piano, but he had an interesting enough story…

Years before he began playing piano for McKinley High Glee Club, Brad himself had gone to McKinley High School. His freshman year of high school, Brad was starting to realize his place. He wasn’t artsy in any sense; sure he knew how to play the piano but it just wasn’t really for him. He wasn’t exactly athletic; one failed attempt at trying out for the football team had showed him that. What he was, apparently, was cheerleader material. His best friend had tried out for a spot on the Cheerios and, after a lot of persuading, had convinced Brad to try out, too. He made it and spent his high school years as part of the highly successfully William McKinley High School Cheerios.

After he graduated, he went off to college to get a degree in teaching, because what else could one do in little old Lima, Ohio? He was a cheerleader through college as well, and when he heard that McKinley was in need of a new cheerleading coach, he was quick to take the position. Two more successful years met the Cheerios while under the direction of Brad, and it was the happiest he had been in his life. Seeing the ecstatic expressions on the Cheerios’ faces as they won a Nationals trophy after a year of hard work and long practices was one of Brad’s favorite things.

His entire life changed the next year.

Brad had never really loved anyone, he had a few girlfriends through the years, but he just never really clicked with anyone. Brad’s third year of coaching the Cheerios, they brought in a new assistant coach. Sue Sylvester. Sue wasn’t always harsh and judgmental; there was a time in her past when she was a sweet, kind, and loving woman. Brad was lucky to have gotten to know that side of her.

Sue and Brad spent every moment that they could together, planning out practices and new routines for the Cheerios, sorting through paper work for competitions and health and safety forms for the cheerleaders. Sometimes they would forget all about their work and just sit there and talk, have those deep meaningful conversations you can only have with a certain few people. Sue was the first woman Brad had ever loved, the only woman he had ever loved, and the only one that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

They worked great together, and their relationship was one of the best. _That_ , Brad had decided, was the happiest he had ever been. But after a while… things began to change again.

Brad and Sue were together for two years and nine months when Brad decided it was time to take the next step, to drop to one knee after the Cheerios took their fifth consecutive Nationals trophy and everyone was already filled to the brim with their excitement. He took Sue’s hand in his and pulled a small box out of the pocket of his track pants, smiling widely as he looked at her and began to speak. Her expression stopped him. Sue no longer looked happy, but instead scared, almost terrified.

“Sue… w-what…?” Brad asked, concern all over his face. Sue shook her head furiously, jerking her hand back before turning and rushing out of the room.

They hadn’t spoken since.

And that is what brought Brad to his current position. He quit coaching the Cheerios, unable to take being that close to Sue without being able to talk with her or hold her or kiss her anymore. He didn’t want to leave McKinley completely, so he took comfort in music, much to his surprise. He began playing the accompaniment for theatre performances, and when Figgins asked him to, started helping with the Glee club as well. He still got those pangs of guilt, hurt, and heartache daily, but he was slowly learning to cope. His piano was a nice distraction, as was watching the dramatic lives of teenagers from behind the keys.

So there he was, an inanimate object to the glee kids and just another worker in the school board’s eyes. No one was aware of all the pain he had gone through, and still goes through daily, and no one ever asked. But if they ever did, Brad had quite the interesting tale. 


End file.
